| Bird feathers and their changes have always been of concern.The color of Crested Ibis’s feathers is the middle color between pink and orange.In general,the color of bird feathers is determined by the concentration of melanin contained in the feather tissue.It is yellow-brown at low concentrations and black at high concentrations.There are blue,green,and purple changes in the viewing angle.The Crested Ibis’s feather color has the dual function of protecting color and wedding plumage.When foraging in the wild,the gray-black color of the head,neck,and back plays a protective role.It is also difficult to find grayish black when hatching eggs during the breeding period.Adult feathers are the darkest blacks during breeding and have little difference between males and females.In this study,seven healthy cage-dwelling Crested Ibis individuals from the Shaanxi Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Research Center were selected,including three male individuals and four female individuals.It mainly explores the relationship between the month-to-month changes and feather color changes in the tissue structure of neck skin,the composition,structure,and origin of the dark matter secreted by the neck.Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the structure of the skin of the cervical secretory part of the pheasant during the breeding period.The individual 307 and 501 were selected during the breeding period for the black small particles(a powdered lipid-soluble matrix containing melanin secreted from the cervix).The gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer was used for the qualitative analysis of the black matter.The correlation between endocrine and exocrine secretions was explored through the changes in the composition and structure of black matter and the trend of steroid hormone levels throughout the year.From January to December 2017,fecal samples were collected during the mid-month of each month,and the level of steroid hormones(estradiol,progesterone,and testosterone)in the entire physiological cycle of cinerea was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Hormone levels indicate the reproductive physiological status of the cricket and its regulatory effect on reproduction.The main results of this study are as follows:1.Through non-parametric tests on the female and male cricket individuals,the same individual had a significant difference in the levels of the three hormones at the 0.01 level between different months(P=0.006<0.01);Correlation analysis found that progesterone and testosterone levels were significantly correlated at the 0.05 level in the breeding period,with a correlation coefficient of 0.604.This may be related to the behaviors of spawning,brooding,brooding,and nursery care in the breeding period.On the other hand,in the same individual,after bivariate correlation analysis,it was found that the content of testosterone and estradiol at the 0.01 level was highly significant,with a correlation coefficient of 0.818.2.The black substance that formed the plumage of the hibiscus was determined by GC-MS and a total of 117 components were measured.It is a mixture that is insoluble in water and contains esters(16 types),alkanes(51 types),alcohols(8 types)and there are several types of substances such as ketones(6 types)and aldehydes(2 types)of hydrocarbon derivatives(34 types).The proportions were 13.6%,43.6%,6.8%,5.1%,1.7%,and 29%respectively;among them,there were many types of alkane and esters.However,this article is only a qualitative study of the black substance.The main components and structures of the black substance still need further quantification and in-depth exploration. |
